Tulane Football To Battle Mississippi State Saturday In Season Opener

Green Wave kicks of the Bob Toledo Era against Bulldogs; game set to kick off at 6:07 p.m. in the `Dome'

NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University football team kicks off the Bob Toledo Era on Saturday, Sept. 8, when the Green Wave play host to Mississippi State in the Louisiana Superdome with kickoff slated for 6:07 p.m.

The game will be broadcast on the Tulane ISP Sports Network (local station, WIST AM 690) and televised live on Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast. In addition, live audio is available via the internet at www.TulaneGreenWave.com to registered members of the All-Access Pass. Live stats are also available free of charge on the official website of Tulane Athletics.

"It's exciting because now we're going to find out what kind of team we have," Toledo said. "You never really know until you play a game. I'm excited for our players and I'm excited for our staff. It's a new staff and we've never really worked together yet. This is our first opportunity to be in a game and see how we all respond."

While Toledo will be coaching his first game on the Green Wave sideline, he brings nearly 40 years of coaching experience to the Tulane program, including head coaching stints at Cal Riverside (1974-75), Pacific (1979-82) and UCLA (1996-2002). He will be looking to become the fifth consecutive Tulane coach to win his opener as Greg Davis, Buddy Teevens, Tommy Bowden and Chris Scelfo all emerged victorious in their Green Wave debuts.

Another thing Toledo brings to Tulane is the West Coast Offense, which relies heavily on a strong running game and short, timing patterns in the passing game. The Green Wave feature one of the best backs in Conference USA in senior Matt Forte, who already ranks seventh on the Tulane career rushing list with 2,152 yards. As a junior in 2006, Forte was on pace to become just the third player in school history to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark (859 yards in eight-plus games) before suffering a season-ending knee injury in the ninth game of the season.

Junior Scott Elliott, meanwhile, is the new starting quarterback and looks to follow a long line of strong Tulane signal callers as the last four Green Wave starting quarterbacks - Shaun King, Patrick Ramsey, J.P. Losman and Lester Ricard - have all gone on to sign NFL contracts. In his first two seasons at Tulane, Elliott saw time in 13 games, including three starts, completing 61-of-122 passes for 647 yards and four touchdowns.

Elliott has a full arsenal of receivers to throw the ball to, including senior Kenneth Guidroz, junior Brian King, sophomore Chris Dunn and 2006 Freshman All-American Jeremy Williams. Williams is the team's top returning wide receiver after catching 40 passes for 484 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Another mainstay of Toledo's offenses over the years has been the trick play. Upon his hiring, Toledo said during his introductory press conference that he will use gadget play to gain a competitive advantage when the time is right. Following Thursday's practice at the Westfeldt Facility, Toledo promised more of the same for the upcoming season.

"If you look at me over the years, we're always going to have a trick or two up our sleeves in the game," Toledo said. "At any point, people better not get up to go out to get a hot dog because they might miss a play."

Defensively, the Green Wave return eight starters among 23 letterwinners from a year ago, including a trio of senior defensive linemen - Antonio Harris, Frank Morton and Avery Williams - four linebackers who have started at least one game as well as the safety tandem of Joe Goosby and David Skehan.

Skehan led the Green Wave in 2006 with 80 tackles and four interceptions while junior linebacker James Dillard finished third on the squad last season with 55 stops. Senior defensive tackle Frank Morton - who was hampered in the preseason with an ankle injury - paced the Tulane defense a year ago with four sacks among eight and a half tackles for loss.

While the Green Wave continued practice in preparation of Saturday's opener vs. the Bulldogs Thursday afternoon on campus, the attitude around the football program has been nothing but positive since Toledo's hiring back in December.

"I think everything has been really positive," Toledo said. "The players are excited about the game. The boosters, the fans, the alumni and everyone with the university are very enthusiastic. Everyone is kind of excited to find out what's going to happen and none of us know that until we kick it off."

One of the things Toledo was quick to point out throughout the off season was the needed support of the Green Wave's fan base. During his weekly press conference, Toledo encouraged the fans to "be proud of green and let's have more green than red in the stadium this coming week.

"I hope that the fans come out and support us. They've talked about coming out, buying tickets, being supportive and creating a home-field advantage. So I hope that that comes true. I hope that they will come out and I hope that we give them an opportunity to get excited and make them want to come back and see us again."

Saturday's season opener vs. Mississippi State marks the first of four consecutive home games for the Green Wave as Tulane will play host to Houston (Sept. 15), Southeastern Louisiana (Sept. 22) and LSU (Sept. 29) in the Louisiana Superdome during the month of September.

Season tickets remain on sale through the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office. In addition, "SEC Package" tickets (one ticket to both the Mississippi State and LSU games for $65) remain on sale throughout the week. For ticket information, visit the ticket office on the first floor of the James W. Wilson, Jr. Center, call the office 504-861-WAVE or go on-line at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.

TULANE FAN INTERACTION: Prior to Saturday's game vs. Mississippi State, and throughout the 2007 season, the Tulane team will start a new tradition as the Green Wave will walk through the tailgating area at the Louisiana Superdome. Two hours prior to each home game at the Dome, the team will unload the busses along Girod Street (between the Louisiana Superdome and New Orleans Arena), walk up the ramp behind the Southeast Parking Garage and walk through the area atop the Southeast lot before entering the Dome for that day's competition. For more information on tailgating at the Superdome, contact the Tulane Marketing Department at (504) 862-8443 or (504) 314-2439.